Text Resize

You are here

Registration

How to Register

All current undergraduate students must complete an online application stating their housing intent for the following academic year, whether they intend to live on- or off-campus, study abroad or participate in other special housing programs.

To register for housing, log in to the Housing Portal and click on the ‘Application’ tab in the upper left-hand corner. Carefully follow the instructions on each page of the application.

Category Declaration

At the ‘Category Declaration’ step, select the appropriate housing category. It is imperative to select the correct category, whether applying as an individual or as a group.

Please note that changes cannot be made to a student’s category declaration once selected.

There are four Category Declaration options:

Special Housing includes students who will be Resident Advisers (RAs) or RA Riders, members of fraternities and sororities, those participating in the Living-Learning Center and Special Interest Communities.

Non-Columbia Housing includes students who are studying abroad, moving off campus, living at Barnard, etc.

In-Person Group Selection enables groups of 2 to 8 students to choose suites and double rooms together. Note: students who select this category are permitted to participate in Online Selection if they do not make a selection during In-Person Group Selection.

Online Selection is an online process conducted individually or for groups of 2 to 8, on the Housing Portal, whereby students can select corridor-style single rooms, full or half-filled doubles near each other. Groups and individuals who designate Online Selection as their original Category Declaration are not eligible to participate in In-Person Group Selection.

Group Registration and Leaders

Students registering as a group must select a group leader to create a unique group name and password. The group leader then shares the group name and password with the members. Each member must have the same Category Declaration and joins the group by entering the group name and password in the ‘Group Management’ step of their application on the Housing Portal.

Upon registering, the designated group leader is asked if the group intends to participate in Group Break. Group Break applies primarily to mixed-point groups and, if selected and the group decides to drop to Online Selection, group members are assigned individual appointment times based first on their respective point values, then on their mutual lottery number. If a group leader does not make this selection, the group is assigned the same Online Selection appointment time.

If students are unable to make their In-Person Group Selection appointment time for any reason, they may designate a proxy on the ‘Registration Summary’ page on the Housing Portal. Please note: proxies cannot select on a student’s behalf during Online Selection.

Room Selection is not complete until students are assigned a room, have completed the ‘Fire Safety’ step, and have signed the Occupancy Agreement online. Please visit Failure to Sign Your Occupancy Agreement within the Room Assignments and Room Transfers section of the Guide to Living for more information.